Justices appeared unlikely to grant request for absolute immunity from criminal prosecution to former president

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The US supreme court on Thursday expressed interest in returning Donald Trumpas criminal case over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election back to a lower court to decide whether certain parts of the indictment were aofficial actsa that were protected by presidential immunity.

During oral arguments, the justices appeared unlikely to grant Trumpas request for absolute immunity from criminal prosecution, with both Trumpas lawyer and the justice departmentas lawyer agreeing there were certain private acts that presidents would have no protection for.

Former National Enquirer publisher says he helped Trump to suppress negative stories that threatened 2016 presidential bid

The former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told the court in Donald Trumpas New York criminal trial on Thursday that he specifically bought a story from the Playboy model Karen McDougal to bury it so that it did not aembarrass or hurt the [Trump] campaigna.

Following his testimony earlier in the week, Pecker, the former chief executive of American Media Inc (AMI), which publishes the Enquirer, spent hours explaining how he used his position to help Trump kill McDougalas story about a 10-month affair she says they had in 2006.

Court rules judge who oversaw landmark trial was mistaken in allowing women whose accusations were not part of case to testify

The disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinsteinas 2020 conviction on sex crimes was overturned by a New York appeals court on Thursday, as prosecutors say they will retry the firestorm case.

In a 4-3 decision, the state of New York court of appeals ruled that the judge who oversaw Weinsteinas 2020 conviction prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with aegregiousa improper rulings and was mistaken in allowing other women whose accusations were not a part of the 2020 case to testify.

Move made after more than 90 demonstrators arrested on campus and university cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorianas speech

The University of Southern California (USC) has canceled its main stage graduation ceremony, citing new safety measures as student protests over the Israel-Gaza war have surged on the campus.

USC is one of many campuses across the country that have become hubs for student demonstrations against the war, with hundreds of arrests nationwide as tensions escalate. Police arrested dozens of students and activists at USC this week on trespassing charges.

Worldas largest public company reports $61.86bn revenue after investing billions into artificial intelligence

Profits at Microsoft beat Wall Streetas expectations as its heavy bet on artificial intelligence continued to bear fruit in the latest quarter.

The technology giant has invested billions of dollars into AI in a bid to turbocharge its growth, particularly of its cloud computing services. Its cloud computing revenue surged by more than 20%.

The former presidentas motion for a new trial was denied and his argument deemed aentirely without merita

A federal judge on Thursday upheld the verdict and award of more than $83m to the writer E Jean Carroll in a defamation case against Donald Trump after he called her a liar for accusing him of sexually assaulting her.

Judge Lewis Kaplan, a senior district judge on the US district court for the southern district of New York, denied Trumpas motion for a new trial and affirmed that Carroll suffered harm caused by Trumpas 2019 public statements.

About 1,000 US troops will support the military construction efforts, but Joe Biden has ordered them not to set foot on the Gaza shore

US troops have begun construction of a maritime pier off the coast of Gaza that aims to speed the flow of humanitarian aid into the territory, the Pentagon has said, but the complex plan to bring more desperately needed food to Palestinian civilians is still mired in fears over security and how the aid will be delivered.

aI can confirm that US military vessels, to include the USNS Benavidez, have begun to construct the initial stages of the temporary pier and causeway at sea,a Pentagon spokesperson Maj Gen Patrick Ryder told reporters.

Dazhon Darien impersonated high school principal in Maryland in clip that quickly spread on social media, police say

A high school athletic director in Maryland has been charged with using artificial intelligence to impersonate a principal on an audio recording that included racist and antisemitic comments, authorities said on Thursday.

Dazhon Darien faked the voice of Pikesville high schoolas principal in January following conversations that Darienas contract would not be renewed, according to charging documents filed by Baltimore county police.

Appas asecret sourcea algorithm reportedly core to operations of parent company, which sources say make a sale highly unlikely

ByteDance would prefer to shut down TikTok rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the US, four sources said.

The algorithms TikTok relies on for its operations are deemed core to ByteDanceas overall operations, which would make a sale of the app with algorithms highly unlikely, said the sources close to the parent.

Court ruled last month that Crystal Mason, initially sentenced to five years in prison, did not know she was ineligible to vote in 2016

A Texas prosecutor will appeal against a court ruling tossing out a five-year prison sentence for a woman who unintentionally tried to vote while ineligible in the 2016 election, an unexpected move that continues one of the most closely watched voting prosecutions in the US.

Last month, the second court of appeals, which is based in Fort Worth, threw out the 2018 conviction of Crystal Mason, a Black woman who submitted a provisional ballot in 2016 that ultimately went uncounted. Mason was on supervised release for a federal felony at the time she voted and has said she had no idea she was ineligible. The panel said prosecutors had failed to prove Mason actually knew she was ineligible.

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Roger Goodell walks out to a rousing chorus of boos a thank you to Detroit for maintaining the leagueas most delightful tradition. He brought out Eminem, Calvin Johnson, Aidan Hutchinson and Jared Goff with him, which helped a little.

Also: Calvin Johnson looks like he would still be the best receiver in the league.

Justices heard immunity arguments a and the conservative majority seemed determined to talk about anything but the case at hand

It took two hours and 24 minutes for the elephant in the room to be mentioned at Thursdayas US supreme court hearing. aThe special counsel has expressed some concern for speed, and wanting to move forward,a said Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

That was shorthand for the gargantuan stakes at play in Trump v United States. The court was being asked to consider one of the most consequential prosecutions in US history a the four federal charges brought against former president Donald Trump accusing him of attempting to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election a and whether the case can conceivably go to trial.

Muslims worry Modias party will rely on familiar tactics of drawing on religious divisions as it battles Congress to to retain seats in Karnataka

The sun scorched the carpeted car park at Mudipu Junction outside Mangalore in Karnataka state as volunteers arranged rows of red plastic chairs and placed mounds of biryani and fruit on the table for a public iftar, the moment Muslims break their fast during Ramadan.

But this was no ordinary iftar. India is in the midst of a general election during which prime minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third term, and factionalism is rife.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are calling on universities to sell investments in companies they say are complicit in war in Gaza

As protests against Israelas offensive in Gaza are spreading throughout American campuses, one demand made by students across schools keeps coming up: divestment from Israel.

Universities rely on endowments to fund things like research and scholarships, and those endowments are typically invested in companies and alternative asset classes, such as private equity and hedge funds.

The Broadway Theatre, New York

F Scott Fitzgeraldas novel makes an underwhelming transfer to the stage in a bombastic yet misfiring new production

The musical currently playing at the Broadway Theatre, twirling drunkenly in 1920s opulence, is The Great Gatsby.

Though, perhaps, the latest revival of F Scott Fitzgeraldas novel should be renamed The Gimmicky Gatsby. An attempt to evoke awe through hyper-extended dance intervals and flaccid sets, this remount prioritizes a good time over any purposeful recreation of the American classic.

A new exhibition at the New-York Historical Society looks back on years of radical change in the city for better and worse

In recent decades New York City has changed dramatically, transforming from the lows of the crime and drug epidemics that ravaged the city in the 1970s and 80s to the resurgence and optimism that typified the 90s and the surge in gentrification that has been a source of debate more recently. Amid all of this transformation, one might make the assumption that these are new forces that New Yorkers are being forced to grapple with a not necessarily so.

In fact, one of the points of the New-York Historical Societyas fascinating new exhibit, Lost New York, is that these forces have been transforming the city for a much longer time. The exhibit brings to light layers of history that have generally been forgotten, showing how landmarks, practices and communities have been integral to the cityas formation, even though they may not be remembered.

The actor on tricking her tear ducts, being entertained as a child by Tom Cruise and legging it from dinosaurs while wearing stilettos

Hi Bryce! If two generations makes an acting family, does three make an acting dynasty? [Her father is director Ron Howard, both of whose parents were actors.] JohnHunt
I think a dynasty is five generations or more, so weare not even close. Weave got a way to go. Weave got three generations, so maybe Iall be around for it when the Howards cross that threshold.

When youare directing something thatas part of a larger collection, such as The Mandalorian, how do you find the balance between maintaining the tone and making something that reflects your own artistic vision? porcospino
Something like The Mandalorian is such an important story and piece of intellectual property. Itas dramaturgically essential to understand the essence of the creator and what inspired them to create that in the first place, so whatever Iam building on is an extension of their original vision. In the case of Star Wars, itas George Lucas, but I would feel that way no matter what the material is. Itas very important to have a deep, nuanced, compassionate and objective view when you take the baton.

A anon-hierarchicala university space that can be continually altered or even moved has won the EUas biennial prize for contemporary architecture

A lightweight university study centre designed to be easily disassembled has won the prize for the best building in Europe. Longevity, permanence and a sense of immutability might be the ambition of most architects, but Gustav DA1/4sing and Max Hacke would be delighted to see their building adapted and reconfigured, or ultimately dismantled and moved somewhere else altogether.

aWe imagined the project as a changeable system,a says DA1/4sing, co-designer of the new study pavilion for the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, which has been named this yearas winner of the EU Mies award (formerly the Mies van der Rohe award), the biennial European Union prize for contemporary architecture. aWe wanted it to be a counter model to the universityas high-rise building and its conventional one-sided lecture halls. Itas more like an extension of the landscape that can be forever modified, a non-hierarchical space that the students can make their own.a

Students react to the speaker announcement while school officials stand by the decision

Morehouse College, a nearly 160-year-old historically Black college in Atlanta, announced on Tuesday that Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its commencement ceremony in May. Though Morehouse initially extended the invitation in September, Bidenas acceptance comes after a tumultuous week for the president, in which college students across the nation have engaged in sustained anti-war protests in solidarity with Palestine.

The Guardian spoke to Morehouse students who criticized the schoolas decision to host Biden, and others who had mixed feelings about the upcoming address.

These stunning, extremely relatable women, with nuanced facial expressions and sensible shoes, helped me outline success on my own terms

I love watching television a ideally in bed with a bowl of salt and vinegar potato chips and a bottle of Coke, zoning out for hours.

Iave always been like this. In my teens and 20s I watched back-to-back-to-back Law & Order and Law & Order SVU episodes. I loved the comfort and reliability of the form: the drama of a murder, investigation, plot twist and resolution, all in under 60 minutes. But several years ago, I stopped watching Law & Order; I grew uncomfortable with its uncritical portrayal of the police.

Muscular bodies dripping with sweat are all over cinema screens a and each other. But these films are very different from the sports romances of old

This spring is shaping up to be the season of the artful athletic romance in cinema. Rose Glassas Love Lies Bleeding and Luca Guadagninoas Challengers both offer up their own twisted queer romances set within the world of sport. Both film-makers share a preoccupation with their athletes, lingering over their bodies in ultra-closeup. Muscles ripple and swell like the powerful pulse of the tide. Perfect, glistening orbs of sweat form then drift off the body in slow motion. In these films, ripped, toned bodies become tantalising, treacherous landscapes, and itas on this physical terrain that we can see exactly how and why the charactersa internal desires play out.

Love Lies Bleeding opens with a pulsating montage in a grimy gym as Glass confronts us with running, cycling, lifting, pressing bodies in all of their sweating, straining vulgarity. Meanwhile, Lou (Kristen Stewart), the uninspired gym manager, is sticking her hand down the venueas perpetually clogged toilet. However, when Jackie (Katy OaBrian), a wannabe bodybuilder, rolls through town, all this grotesquery becomes a thing of beauty. They begin a romance. Lou pumps her lover full of steroids and constantly ogles her dense muscles.

Strict rules have led to a wild west of rentals, with visitors choosing between huge hotel bills or word-of-mouth deals

Until recently, visitors to New York basically had two options: hotel rooms or short-term rental platforms like Airbnb. But in September 2023, the city started enforcing a 2022 law that banned people from renting their homes for fewer than 30 days (unless the host stayed in the home with guests).

Now the only legit option for people visiting the city is hotel rooms a and theyare unaffordable for many. Most of the Times Square hotels donat have rooms for less than $300 a night. A search for Thursday 2 May found the Muse at $356, Hampton Inn at $323 and the Hard Rock at $459 (although, because of dynamic pricing, these are subject to regular change). Theyare getting more expensive still. Hotel rates have increased between the first quarter of this year and the first quarter of 2023 at twice the rate of inflation, said Jan Freitag, an analyst at the real-estate data firm CoStar Group.

Oral arguments over former presidentas claim of immunity seem to have left Trump happier than the justice department

aWell,a said one reporter to another as they left the supreme court chamber, sometime after noon on Thursday. aLooks like weare getting a king.a

Notwithstanding a certain mordant hyperbole on a momentous day in American history, the sentiment seemed within bounds.

Idahoas law requires doctors to treat pregnant womenas health as disposable a and the loss of their lives as an acceptable risk

The risk of stating plainly what Idaho argued at the US supreme court on Wednesday morning is that it is so sadistic and extreme that people might not believe you. Idaho has one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. Prohibiting all abortions at any stage of gestation, with no exceptions for rape or incest, the Idaho law allows doctors to perform abortions in cases where the life a but not amerelya the health a of the pregnant woman is at risk.

In practice, this has wound up being a ban on abortions needed to save womenas lives: according to Idaho hospitals, six pregnant women experiencing medical emergencies have had to be airlifted across state lines to hospitals in states with life and health exemptions in the months since Idaho began enforcing its abortion ban. One way to describe this state of affairs is to say that Idahoas abortion law has come into conflict with medical best practice. Another way to describe it is to say that the law has forced pregnant women to flee the state for their lives.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

While other comedians spend more time complaining than cracking jokes, the former Late Show host remains gloriously unhinged and hilarious

With every advance in human technology comes an advance in weird new emotional situations. For example, the Germans should invent a word for the specific drop in the stomach that occurs when you open X to see a celebrity you like trending globally. No one 20 years ago could ever have imagined this specific feeling. Depending on the person, my brain leaps to conclusions. If itas an older person, I worry theyave carked it. If itas Sydney Sweeney, I assume her breasts are up to something again (existing). And if itas a comedian Iave loved since childhood, I assume theyave been cancelled for doing something shitty (due to patterns).

A few weeks ago, I got a Tower of Terror-size gut drop when I saw Conan OaBrien, one of my biggest comedy heroes, trending. Luckily I didnat need to worry. He had gone viral for his appearance on the YouTube show Hot Ones, where a celebrity is interviewed while eating progressively hotter wings. Conan had given a completely unhinged and hilarious performance, including rubbing hot sauce on his nipples. In a sentence Iad never thought Iad say, thank God it was just more breasts discourse.

The safety and security of Palestinians and Jews are interdependent, so we should use language carefully

In reporting on the encampments springing up on college campuses across the US, the media seem to have convened a terminology confab and agreed on two descriptions: apro-Palestiniana and aanti-Israela. These labels oversimplify Americansa opinions on Israelas onslaught against Gaza, which marked its 200th day on Tuesday with no end in sight. But the error is worse than semantic.

aUniversities Struggle as Pro-Palestinian Demonstrations Grow,a says the New York Times. aColleges Struggle to Contain Intensifying Pro-Palestinian Protests,a reports the Wall Street Journal. In Minneapolis, the Star Tribune has the local news that the aUniversity of Minnesota police arrest nine after pro-Palestinian encampment set up on campusa. Some publications less shy about displaying their political biases take the opposite tack. A headline in the right-leaning New York Post, for instance, exaggerated the literally incendiary nature of the demonstratorsa tactics: aAnti-Israel protesters carry flares to march on NYPD HQ after over 130 arrested at NYU.a The accompanying video is cast in red. Ever evenhanded, CBS does both: aPro-Palestinian, pro-Israel protesters gather outside Columbia University.a

Judith Levine is a Brooklyn journalist and essayist, a contributing writer to the Intercept and the author of five books

The overcrowded city is leading the way with a tax on day trippers. Surely other great European destinations should follow suit

Venice has had enough. It is sinking beneath the twin assaults of tourism and the sea and believes the answer lies in fending off visitors by charging them to enter. It is not alone. Tourism is under attack. Seville is charging for entry to the central Plaza de EspaA+-a. In Paris, the Mona Lisa is so besieged by flashing phones she is about to be banished to a basement. Barcelona graffiti shout, aTourists go home, refugees welcome.a Amsterdam wants no more coach parties, nor does Rome.

The Venice payment will be complicated. It will apply at specific entry points only to day trippers to the city centre, not hotel guests. It will be a mere five euros and confined to peak times of day over the summer. This will hardly cover the cost of running it. It is a political gesture that is unlikely to stem the tourist flow round the Rialto and St Markas Square, let alone leave more room for Venetians to enjoy their city undisturbed by mobs.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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With her husband on trial over hush-money payments a and desperate for cash a the ex-first lady isnat worried about optics

If your husband was a legally adjudicated sexual predator who cheated on you with an adult film star shortly after you gave birth to his son, and then allegedly paid her hush money to cover it up in an attempt to illegally influence the 2016 election, and then went on trial for those hush-money payments, while also facing a litany of other criminal charges, what do you think you would do?

In Melania Trumpas case, the answer seems to be: ignore all that hoo-ha and sell a $245 necklace to celebrate Motheras Day. On Sunday, the notably un-effusive first lady announced that she had adesigned the aHer Love & Gratitudea necklace to express immense gratitude and honor all mothersa. The necklace features a flower pendant made of gold vermeil (sterling silver with a solid gold plate) and can include a custom engraving. Best of all, every purchase comes with a limited-edition digital NFT collectible that is minted on the Solana blockchain. Just what every mother wants!